Wheeled cart for use by handicapped, invalid and frail persons

ABSTRACT

A cart having a basket and wheeled metal chassis and adapted for use by handicapped, invalid and frail persons. The basket is made of lightweight plastic wherein the rear panel is open and the side, bottom and front panels are integrally molded of open latticework construction. For additional support, a unitary bar extends along the open perimeter of the basket and along a portion of the underside of the bottom panel adjacent to the open rear edge. The basket is hingedly attached to the metal chassis to permit the baskets rotation from a horizontal to a vertical position to facilitate cleaning and close nesting with other carts. 
     The metal chassis is of lightweight tubular construction and rests on a plurality of swivel casters. To facilitate use of the cart by a person confined to a wheelchair to portable walker, the rear vertical members of the cart chassis are provided with V-shaped guides and fastening chains to permit attachment to the front vertical members of the wheelchair or walker. The cart is further provided with a handle to facilitate independent use of the cart. The handle also serves as a back gate for the open rear panel of the basket.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to the field of wheeled conveyancessimilar to those used as grocery shopping carts in supermarkets and isparticularly directed to a novel cart which is lightweight, easy tomaneuver and can readily be attached to a wheelchair or portable walkerfor use by handicapped and invalid persons.

As society continues to recognize the special needs of the handicappedand invalid, more and more business and commerical establishments aremaking their facilities more readily accessible to the physicallyimpaired. Specially designated parking areas, barrier-free constructionpractices and wheelchair ramps and lifts are now commonplace. Increasedaccessibility, however, is often coupled with the need for innovativesecondary equipment as well. In supermarkets, for example, it isextremely difficult, if not impossible, for a person confined to awheelchair to shop using a conventional grocery cart. Likewise thosepartially disabled shoppers who depend on the aid of a portable framestructure, commonly known as a walker, find themselves at a similardisadvantage. Furthermore, shopping carts of the prior art are designedfor the physically abled person with little regard for considerations ofoverall weight and ease of maneuverability. Thus, the mere pushing of anempty cart of the prior art design is a burdensome task for the frail orweakened shopper. The need, therefore, exists for a grocery shoppingcart which is readily usable by persons confined to wheelchairs andportable walkers and by those whose physical condition is frail orweakened.

Ideally, shopping carts, especially those used in supermarkets servinghandicapped or invalid persons, should have the followingcharacteristics:

1. They should be lighter in weight and easier to push and maneuver thancarts of the prior art.

2. They should be readily usable by both handicapped and non-handicappedpersons.

3. They should be nestable to conserve storage space.

4. They should be easy to maintain and not have a propensity to collectdirt and other contaminates.

5. They should be attractive and retain that attractiveness over alonger period of time than carts of the prior art.

6. The basket of the cart should be easily replaceable.

The needs of the handicapped shopper have heretofor been addressed inthe prior art by adapting conventional shopping carts to attach to awheelchair via a linkage arm. Such adaptations are typified by the VisaMatic Mod. O.T.C. 88 cart manufactured by United Steel and Wire Company.

The Visa Matic cart utilizes a unitary attachment arm extending from therear vertical member of a conventional over-the-counter shopping cart.The arm is releasably attached along the side of a wheelchair to thewheelchair's left front and left rear vertical support members. Adisadvantage associated with the Visa Matic cart is that the attachmentarm is not readily attachable to the wheelchair by the wheelchairoccupant. The occupant is required to reach over to one side and stretchto the rear in order to attach the arm. Wheelchair occupants havinglimited upper body movement and dexterity are, therefore, hard pressedto make the attachment by themselves. The same disadvantage exists whendetachment is desired. A further deficiency in the Visa Matic cart isthat the attachment arm is secured to only one side of the wheelchair.Unitary attachment does not permit the wheelchair occupant to have fulland complete control of the cart and can create undersirable torque whenturning around corners. When an even moderately loaded cart is attachedto a wheelchair, turning in the direction of the unsecured side causesundersirable flexing of the cart in the opposite direction. Thewheelchair occupant is, therefore, required to exert substantial forcein order to maintain control of the cart and complete the turn. Thisproblem is compounded by the fact that the basket portion of the VisaMatic cart is of wirework construction which increases the overallweight of the cart and, therefore, decreases its maneuverability.

As mentioned in my U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,999,774 and 4,273,346, which areherein incorporated by reference, baskets of wirework construction aredeficient in several areas. The wires in the basket are welded at thecrossing points and are then chrome plated. The plating provides asmooth, cleanable attractive surface and affords a measure of corrosionprotection. Due to impacts and normal wear and tear, however, the weldjoints frequently break and the plating is scraped away leaving exposedbare metal. The bare metal is subject to corrosion which results in therapid deterioration and unsightly appearance of the cart. Further, evenif the carts are cleaned periodically, dirt and food particles becomeentrapped in small cracks and crevices in the exposed areas creating anunsanitary condition. The unsecured wire ends also have a tendency topinch and snag articles placed within the basket. Baskets of wireworkconstruction are also difficult to repair. Not only is it hard to benddeformed wires back into shape, it is difficult and expensive to reweldand replate them. The cart basket and chassis are often integral withone another and therefore cannot easily be disassembled for replacementof defective components. Thus, the cart is frequently not repaired, butrather is thrown away when its become too unsightly or too unsanitary tobe used.

The Visa Matic cart has the further disadvantage that it is not readilyattachable to a portable walker. Thus, those individuals who areconfined to a walker, commonly referred to as the walking invalid, findit extremely difficult to grocery-shop for themselves. The attachmentarm on the Visa Matic cart also prevents it from being nested with othercarts. Where storage space is at a premium, carts that are not nestableare particularly undesirable. Another disadvantage of the Visa Maticcart is that it is not adapted for use independent of a wheelchair.Therefore, carts of conventional design must be provided for thenon-physically impaired. Purchase of the Visa Matic cart is accordinglynot cost-effective and is uneconomical. The rear vertical members andwheels of the Visa Matic cart are also not inwardly and outwardlytapered, thus the cart can not be used with wheelchairs having extendedfootrests. Even if the attachment arm of the Visa Matic cart was madelong enough to accommodate wheelchairs having longer footrests, thewheelchair occupant would be a greater distant from the basket portionof the cart making it difficult to place articles into the basket.Accordingly, the Visa Matic cart leaves unsatisfied many of the idealcharacteristics that a shopping cart should possess.

Beyond supermarkets, there are many other areas and environments inwhich a wheeled conveyance that is readily usable by a handicapped,invalid or frail person is of practical utility. For example, in placesof employment as in libraries where wheeled carts of conventional designare used by library personnel as a convenient means for transportingbooks. Thus, those employees who may be physically impaired and areunable to use a conventional cart must be assigned alternate tasks or beforeclosed from employment altogether. There is, accordingly, arecognized need for a wheeled conveyance having the aforementionedcharacteristics in many areas of our society.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is the overall object of this invention to provide a new and improvedwheeled conveyance which can be used by itself or is readily attachableto a wheelchair or portable walker for use by a handicapped or invalidperson.

A specific object of this invention is to provide a new and improvedcart which is lighter in weight and more maneuverable than carts of theprior art.

Another specific object of this invention is to provide a new andimproved cart in which the basket is not easily damaged by impact, iseasier to keep clean and retains its attractive appearance for a longerperiod of time than baskets of the prior art.

A further specific object of this invention is to provide a cart whichcan readily be attached to and detached from a wheelchair by thewheelchair occupant.

A still further specific object of this invention is to provide a cartwhich can readily be attached to and detached from a portable walker bythe user of the walker.

A further specific object of this invention is to provide a cart havingthe above features which can be nested with carts of like or similarconstruction.

Another specific object of this invention is to provide a cart which isreadily usable by both handicapped and non handicapped persons.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a cart which iseasy to push and is more maneuverable than carts of the prior art and isreadily usable by a frail or weakened person.

Another object of this invention is to provide a cart wherein the basketis readily replaceable.

This invention comprises a cart having a basket made of a lightweightdurable material and a wheeled chassis. The basket is similar inconstruction to the front basket disclosed in my earlier mentioned U.S.Pat. No. 4,273,346. The chassis is of tubular construction and has alower horizontal frame supported by four swival casters and an upperhorizontal frame to which the basket is hingedly attached.

The basket is shown to be made of plastic, for example, polyethylene,which is strong, light-weight and pliable enough to absorb a heavyimpact without losing its original shape. It has been found that plasticconstruction significantly reduces the overall weight of an averagecart. A lighter basket thus, makes the cart easier to push and tomaneuver. The rear panel of the basket is open and the front, side andbottom panels are integrally molded in one piece. Thus, there are noseams or weld joints to break and no cracks and crevices to collectdust, dirt and food particles. Furthermore, plastic constructioneliminates the need for plating and provides a smooth cleanable surfacewhich is easy to maintain. It also retains its attractive appearance fora long period of time.

The basket is almost entirely of open lattice-work construction, furtherreducing its weight and allowing its contents to be viewed from anyangle. Strength and rigidity is obtained through the use of suitableintegral strengthening and tapering ribs and the utilization of across-section configuration for the underside of the bottom panel whichhas a tapered form and also by a novel hinged coupling between thebasket and the metal chassis. The basket is open at the rear tofacilitate the placing of articles into it from behind from both asitting and a standing position. The rear of the basket is also hingedto the chassis to permit the basket to rotate upward to facilitatecleaning or nesting with other carts of like or similar construction. Ametal unitary bar extends along the open perimeter of the basket andalong a portion of the underside of its bottom panel adjacent to itsrear edge. The unitary bar prevents the outward bending of the upper andrear portions of the basket's front and side panels. Separate metalhinge bars, on each side of the basket, are attached to the unitary barat the bottom area of the rear panels and extend along a portion of theunderside of the basket. The free end of each respective hinge bar isreceived within a hinge tube mounted on the cart chassis and allows thebasket's rotation from a horizontal to a vertical position. The hingebars serve the dual purpose of reinforcing the unitary bar and also actas hinge pins for rotating the basket to a vertical position. Animportant feature of this invention is that the basket can easily bereplaced, if necessary, by simply breaking apart the integral sides,front and bottom panels and inserting a new basket within the confinesof the metal unitary reinforcing bar and the metal hinging bars. Thus,damage to the basket does not require that the entire cart be discarded.

The metal chassis is of tubular construction of sufficient height fromthe floor to allow a person sitting in an attached wheelchair, orstanding behind an attached walker, immediately behind the cart toeasily reach the interior of the basket. For mobility, the chassis reston a plurality of swivel casters. The rear vertical members and castersof the chassis are inwardly and outwardly tapered to assure that thefootrests and front wheels of a wheel chair do not interfere with theoperation of the cart or the wheelchair. This permits wheelchairs havingextended footrests to be used with the cart without causing thewheelchair occupant to be further away from the basket. The top rear barof the chassis serves as a convenient means for hand pushing the cartindependent of a wheelchair or portable walker. Thus the cart can beused to anyone, making it more cost effective and economical topurchase. The top rear bar also serves as a backstop for the basket whenthe basket is raised to a vertical position and as a rear gate for theopen rear panel of the basket. There is also a secondary bar runningalong the inside of the handle which further prevents articles fromfalling through the open rear panel of the basket. On each of the rearvertical members of the chassis there is mounted a V-shaped guide andfastening chain and pin for securing the cart to each of the frontvertical members of a wheelchair or a portable walker. Securing the cartto the wheelchair on both sides permits the wheelchair occupant to havecomplete control of the cart at all times. The attachment means are alsoconveniently placed in front of the user for ease of attachment anddetachment. The front of the chassis is tapered inwardly to facilitatenesting and is suitably plated to provide a smooth, cleanable,attractive and corrosion resistant surface.

The wheeled conveyance described above satisfies all of theaforementioned desirable characteristics and affords the user a degreeof mobility and usefulness not provided by the prior art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the cart according to the invention andis shown attached to a wheelchair.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the same cart shown attached to aportable walker.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the cart in FIGS. 1 and 2 showing the basket,chassis and V-shape guides and fastening chains.

FIG. 4 is a top view showing the chassis and V-shape guides.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the rear handle bar, secondarybar, V-shape guides and fastening chains and pins.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of the basket hinge means.

FIG. 7 is a side view illustrating several nested carts.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In the preferred embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, aplastic basket 1 is rotatably attached to a wheeled chassis 2. For useby an invalid or handicapped person, the cart can be releasably attachedto a wheelchair 3 or portable walker 4 by V-shaped guides 5 and 6 andfastening chains 7 and 8.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the wheeled chassis 2 is of tubularconstruction and is comprised of a lower horizontal frame 9 and crossmember 10. For ease of maneuverability, the chassis rests on swivelcasters 11-14. Swivel casters 11 and 12 are connected to cross member 10by bolts 15 and 16. Swivel casters 13 and 14 are connected to frame 9 byrivet pairs 17 and 18 (18 not shown). Front vertical member 19 and rearvertical members 20 and 21 (FIGS. 1 and 2) attach to lower horizontalframe 9 and form the vertical support members for upper horizontal frame24. Each respective rear vertical members 20 and 21 are comprised of adogleg portion 22 and 23 that is angled forwardly and downwardly so thatrear wheels 13 and 14 are located forward of the rear edge of basket 1.Dogleg portions 22 and 23 are also outwardly tapered. The abovedescribed configuration of the lower part of rear vertical members 20and 21 provides clearance for the front wheels and footrests ofpractically any wheelchair while at the same time permitting thewheelchair occupant to remain sufficiently close to the basket of thecart to conveniently place articles into it. Clearance for the frontwheels and footrests is also facilitated by outwardly tapering lowerhorizontal frame 9 from front to rear. Upper horizontal frame 24 formsthe base for basket 1. Hinge tube 25 (FIG. 6) is mounted on upperhorizontal frame 24 adjacent to rear vertical members 20 and 21 andreceive hinge bars 48 and 49 attached to the unitary bar 46. Handle bar26 is attached to rear vertical members 20 and 21 by rivet pairs 27 and28, respectively (28 not shown). Secondary bar 29 (FIG. 5) is connectedbetween the inside perimeter of handle bar 26 and in conjunction withhandle bar 26, serves as a means to prevent articles from fallingthrough the open rear panel of basket 1.

The V-shaped guides 5 and 6 and fastening chains 7 and 8 are bestillustrated by FIG. 5. The cart is positioned in front of, for example,a wheelchair, and V-shape guides 5 and 6 are made to engage the frontvertical members 30 and 31 (FIG. 1) of the wheelchair. The cart andwheelchair are held together by looping fastening chains 7 and 8 aroundeach respective front vertical member and 30 and 31 of the wheelchairand is secured on hooks 32 and 33, respectively (FIG. 5). The cart cansimilarly be mated to a portable walker as shown in FIG. 2.

To facilitate construction, several members of the chassis can be formedfrom a continuous piece of the same material. For example, lowerhorizontal frame 9 can be formed from the same piece of material. Rearvertical members 20 and 21 and upper horizontal frame 24 may also beformed from the same continuous piece. While fabrication of the chassisusing tubular construction is ideal, other construction materials are byno means foreclosed. For example, angle iron, flat or round bar stock orother suitable construction materials may be used as well. To improvethe appearance and provide for a measure of corrosion protection, acoating material should be applied to the chassis. Where metalconstruction materials are used, a suitable metal plating, paint orvinyl coating may be used.

Basket 1 is made of a plastic material such as polyethylene. Thismaterial provides a basket that is strong and durable but yet is lightin weight and flexible enough to absorb some deformation, such as causedby impact, without breaking. Other materials having similar propertiesmay also be used. Basket 1 is comprised of two side panels 40 and 41 (41not shown), a bottom panel 42 and a front panel 43 (FIG. 1). The rearpanel is left open to facilitate placing articles into basket 1 from therear of the cart. Side panels 40 and 41, bottom panel 42 and front panel43 of basket 1 are injection molded, integral with one another, in asingle unit. Single piece construction provides a basket that isstructurally sound without joints and interfaces to later break. Basket1 is constructed substantially of open latticework. Latticeworkconstruction permits the user to observe the contents of the basket fromvirtually any position. It also represents a significant saving inmaterial making basket 1 cheaper to manufacture and much lighter inweight. Open latticework construction also facilitates cleaning of thebasket. The lattice can be any of a multitude of patterns and as shownherein, the pattern is diamond shaped. Bottom panel 42 is integrallyattached to side panels 40 and 41 and front panel 43. Althoughsubstantially of open latticework construction, solid portions are addedto the lattice at various points as known in the prior art to addstrength to the various panels. In addition, solid portions 44 and 45(FIGS. 1 and 2) can be added to the sides and front to carry a label oradvertising. Because it is necessary that basket 1 be strong and be ableto withstand compact and high loading, additional reinforcement isprovided by way of a metal unitary bar 46 which is disposed within achannel that extends along side panels 40 and 41 and front panel 43adjacent their free edge. Separate metal hinge bars 48 and 49 (FIG.6-hinge bar 49 not shown) are attached to unitary bar 46 and extendalong a portion of the underside of basket 1. The free ends of hingebars 48 and 49 are received within hinge tube 25 (FIG. 6) to allowbasket 1 to rotate from a horizontal to a vertical position tofacilitate cleaning and close nesting with carts of the same or similarconstruction.

It may be noted that many modifications and variations of the abovedescribed embodiment will become apparent to those of ordinary skill inthe art from a reading of this disclosure. The invention is not limitedto the particular apparatus disclosed, its scope is governed only by thescope of the appended claims.

I claim:
 1. A wheeled conveyance attachable to the front verticalsupport members of a wheelchair, said wheeled conveyance comprising:abasket; and a chassis having a plurality of casters, first and secondrear vertical members, means for supporting said basket, and means forreadily attaching and detaching each respective first and second rearvertical members to said front vertical members of said wheelchair, saidfirst and second rear vertical members each having a lower doglegportion that is sufficiently angled forwardly, downwardly and outwardlyto provide clearance for the front wheels and footrests of an attachedwheelchair.
 2. A wheeled conveyance attachable to the front verticalsupport members of a portable walker, said wheeled conveyancecomprising:a basket; and a chassis having a plurality of casters, firstand second rear vertical members, means for supporting said basket, andmeans for readily attaching and detaching each respective first andsecond rear vertical members to said front vertical members of saidportable walker, said first and second rear vertical members each havinga lower dogleg portion that is angled forwardly, downwardly andoutwardly.
 3. The wheeled conveyance of claim 1 or 2 wherein said basketis hingedly attached to said chassis and is capable of being rotatedfrom a horizontal position to a vertical position relative to thechassis.
 4. The wheeled conveyance of claim 1 or 2 wherein said cart isadapted for nesting with other carts of similar or like construction. 5.The wheeled conveyance of claim 1 or 2 wherein said basket is made ofplastic.
 6. The wheeled conveyance of claim 5 wherein said basketfurther comprises a pair of side panels, a bottom panel and a frontpanel which are all substantially of open lattice construction.
 7. Thewheeled conveyance of claim 6 wherein said pair of side panels, saidbottom panel and said front panel are integrally molded with oneanother.
 8. The wheeled conveyance of claim 1 wherein said chassis isfurther comprised of a lower horizontal frame, said frame beingsufficiently outwardly tapered from front to rear of the chassis toprovide clearance for the front wheels and footrests of an attachedwheelchair.
 9. The wheeled conveyance of claim 1 or 2 wherein saidchassis is further comprised of a handle bar portion of sufficientheight to faciliate manually pushing the cart independent of an attachedwheelchair or walker.
 10. The wheeled conveyance of claim 9 wherein saidhandle bar portion is adapted to serve as a rear barrier for saidbasket.
 11. The wheeled conveyance of claim 1 or 2 wherein saidattachment means comprises:a V-shaped guide attached to each respectivesaid first and second rear vertical members; a fastening chain attachedto one side of the V of each V-shaped guide; and a hook attached to theother side of the V of each V-shaped guide.